30th December 2012 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

Over the past two weeks the weather has been sunshine and hot days with a very rare drop of rain resulting in 7.5mm. No sign of the monsoonal trough coming our way yet. The minimum temperature over the two weeks were cool for this time of year with a minimum of 16.5ºC which was slightly less than the previous two weeks. The maximum temperature was 33.4ºC, which was about 3º more than the previous two weeks. The humidity was still high, up to 92% and again extremely low for us at 41%.

Bird sightings for the first week were 96 seen plus 4 heard. The second week had slightly less sightings due mainly to the Christmas festivities taking away a couple of observation days! There was 91 seen plus 4 heard. Mammal and reptile species were 23 seen and two frog species heard.

Last Two Weeks Bird Sightings:-

The last two weeks bird lists can be found on the Eremaea Birds Website:-

December16th-22nd and December23rd-29th

Morning walk lists can also be found on the Eremaea Birds Website.

Birding Highlights:-

Green Pygmy-goose have been seen in the McDougall Road lagoons with up to three pairs. One pair were displaying with the female doing all the work. She was swimming around the male head bobbing as she went, the male was taking no notice and continued feeding, this behaviour makes a change as it is a role reversal to what we normally see. 

Green Pygmy-goose - male and female

Both Superb and Wompoo Fruit-Dove have been seen in the Lodge grounds. Red-necked Crake have been calling and being seen with two making an appearance at the Crake Pool late one afternoon and another seen walking through the rainforest on the edge of the orchard. Congratulations to Gavin, one of our guests, for finding the Red-necked Crake after numerous attempts over many years. Both Buff-banded Rail and White-browed Crake were showing well in one of the McDougall Road lagoons late in the second week. 

White-browed Crake

Pale-vented Bush-hen have also been seen, in the neighbours garden and along Bushy Creek at the Platypus viewing area. Barking Owl have started to appear in the Lodge grounds on dusk, perching in front of the units and behind the bunkhouse before heading off for the night. A (Lesser) Sooty Owl was roosting for a day in leaves and vines along the road to the reception where Gavin found it and many more guests could see it. Some Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher have actually started to dig out their nests in the termite mounds but so far only two pairs out of at least seven are digging. A Blue-winged Kookaburra was seen with a large lizard in its bill but it flew off before the prey could be identified. A Noisy Pitta was near the Crake Pool collecting moss for its nest mid-way through the second week. A Macleay's Honeyeater was also seen collecting nesting material. Leaden Flycatcher females have been active but no sign of males.

Leaden Flycatcher - female

A juvenile Pied Monarch has been foraging around the Bunkhouse area, showing dull grey plumage where the adults are white and also very brown primary wing feathers.

Pied Monarch - juvenile

Further Afield:-

Mt. Lewis has been performing over the last few weeks with one trip seeing all the 12 Wet Tropic endemic birds in four hours. A Tooth-billed Bowerbird was seen displaying 5m up in a tree, spreading its wings and calling, full list for trip. Blue-faced Parrot-Finch have been difficult as the dry weather has stunted the grass growth which has not produced much seed however they are on the mountain if you are prepared to be patient. Sightings over the last two weeks have had up to five birds with three together the most. Chook (David Crawford) from Close Up Birding Adventures reported a Little Eagle at Hunters Creek near Abattoir Swamp.

Local Area:-

McDougall Road gets a fair plug in the blog for many sightings, mainly waterbirds, so we thought a bit more explanation was required. There are two lagoons along the road, one on the left hand side a few hundred metres off the Rex Highway and a second lagoon further down the road across Bushy Creek and on the right. Both these lagoons are on private property and can and should be viewed from the road. This image shows the second lagoon.

McDougall Road Lagoon

This image shows a darter taken this past week at the second lagoon, the previous images of White-browed Crake and Green Pygmy-goose were also taken at the same time.

Australasian Darter

Between the Lodge and McDougall Road is a dam, also viewed from the road (Rex Highway) which often has some good waterbirds, however with the current dry spell it is drying out rapidly, this we call Sparky's Dam.

Sparky's Dam

Other Images:-
Continuing on from the last blog about birds on signs here are a couple more on man made structures. A Laughing Kookaburra on our front entrance light pole and a Pale-yellow Robin on a rather old tree identification sign.

Laughing Kookaburra

Pale-yellow Robin

 This Large-billed Scrubwren was showing off its "large" bill.

Large-billed Scrubwren

Reptiles and Mammals:-

A small Yellow-footed Antichinus has been a regular at the feeder taking banana as has a Major Skink. Striped Possum have been seen several times around the units and in the orchard. Platypus (3) are still showing well in Bushy Creek and Short-beaked Echidna has also been seen twice along the track from the orchard to Bushy Creek, one sighting on a night walk, second sighting was during the day. A Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko was found on a tree adjacent to the cookshed early one evening before we went out on a night walk, unusual to see one so early. Several sightings were had of Australian Scrub Python along with a 4m skin along Bushy Creek.

Guests Photo:-

Neil was in the right place at the right time for this Black-necked Stork who was flying over Mt. Molloy showing some moult in the primary feathers. Great Photo.

Black-necked Stork

Finally we would like to wish all our readers a safe and happy new year and one that brings many great birding experiences.

12th August 2012 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

We just celebrated seven years of running Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge which has been most enjoyable with lots of hard work but has been worth the effort. We would like to say a big thank you to all our fantastic guests who have shared the area with us and hopefully catch up with those of you who have not visited yet.

Now what has been happening over the past two weeks? No rain apart from a brief bit of drizzle one morning which did not even register in the rain gauge, the rest of the two weeks was fantastic weather with sunshine and cool mornings. The top temperature was a pleasant 20.9ºC and the minimum was 11.2ºC. The humidity was high, up to 95% and a very low for us of 53%.

Bird sightings for the first week were 96 seen plus 7 heard. The second week had slightly more sightings due mainly to the great weather but also more birdos looking, 112 seen plus 2 heard. Mammal and reptile species were slightly less than the last two weeks due to the dry cooler weather with 23 species seen. The last two weeks bird lists are on the Eremaea Birds Website for Week1 and Week2 plus morning walk lists can also be found at this link on Eremaea Birds

Birding Highlights:

A White-necked Heron was foraging in ponding in the adjacent cane paddock late one afternoon, not a common bird in our area, also here were two Purple Swamphen another uncommon bird in this area. A Red-necked Crake was heard calling from the rainforest patch adjacent to Geraghty Park whilst we were on a nightwalk – at least they are still around and hopefully they will start showing themselves soon. A reminder of what they look like!

 

 

Red-necked Crake

 

Also still around is the (Lesser) Sooty Owl which called once at 5.20am as it was flying over, however still no sightings. A pair of Yellow-throated Scrubwren were seen in the rainforest adjacent to the orchard which was only the second sighting this year, the previous sighting was of a single bird. A White-eared Monarch we had heard calling for over a month decided to show itself on two consecutive days in the orchard flitting around the tops of the trees as they do, thanks to Murray for finding the bird.

Other sightings:

Waterbirds continue to come and go especially Magpie Goose, Hardhead and Australasian Grebe. Brown Cuckoo-Dove are appearing again and even a Superb Fruit-Dove has been showing in the orchard on the odd occasion but more often has been heard. A couple of Topknot Pigeon have been flying over occasionally and our Papuan Frogmouth returned to its usual daytime roosting site in the orchard at the end of the second week after not being able to be found for a month but promptly vanished the next day. An Australian Owlet-nightjar was heard on several nights calling near the accommodation units but not seen. Raptors have been showing well in the area with nine species seen, Black-shouldered Kite, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Whistling, Brahminy and Black Kite, Brown Goshawk, Collared Sparrowhawk, Swamp Harrier and Wedge-tailed Eagle. Double-eyed Fig-Parrot were only seen once flying over and the juvenile Scaly-breasted Lorikeet reported in the last blog is still in the grevilleas and surviving well despite falling out of the tree several times, it just gets up and climbs back along the trunk. It is now starting to develop its primary feathers and tail so hopefully should fly off soon.

Scaly-breasted Lorikeet - on Grevillea

A Fan-tailed Cuckoo was foraging along McDougall Road which is one of very few sightings this year. The pair of Barking Owl are still with us and are calling most evenings and early morning; they were seen calling in a Poinciana tree at the entrance to the Lodge one evening. At least one pair of Eastern Barn Owl have three fledglings out of the nest begging for food, hopefully they will make it. The Noisy Pitta reported in last blog was with us for most of the last two weeks but had disappeared for the last three days. Our neighbours had which was presumably the same bird appear in their garden, so maybe the pitta is widening its feeding area in the search for something other than banana! Whilst it was here it put on a show one sunny afternoon and sat out sunning itself. 

Noisy Pitta

Lovely Fairy-Wren were again seen in our neighbours garden one afternoon when a male and two females appeared. 12 species of honeyeater again for the last two weeks making the most of the flowering trees and rarely coming into the nectar feeders. A White-cheeked Honeyeater was foraging along the edge of the rainforest behind the units one morning which was nice as they don't visit us often and Graceful Honeyeater are singing well. This one was twisting its head and distorting the yellow ear patch.

Graceful Honeyeater

 
At least two Barred Cuckoo-shrike were heard behind the units in the rainforest but only one morning before they disappeared. A single male Golden Whistler, which is a winter visitor from the mountains behind the Lodge, has been around the grounds. The Golden Whistler has not been calling unlike the Grey Whistler who are in full song. A female Bowers Shrike-thrush was looking for insects on the veranda in front of the units one morning; this is another winter visitor from higher altitudes. The Yellow Oriole which have been around since the beginning of April seem to have left the area to be replaced by the Olive-backed Oriole which are calling well. A pair of Black Butcherbird are still lurking around the rainforest and catching the occasional frog, usually White-lipped Tree Frog. Our Spangled Drongo is still making noisy appearances at the nectar feeder and both Rufous and Grey Fantail, including a few of the race keasti from higher altitudes are around the Lodge grounds. 

Grey Fantail - race keasti

Pied Monarch and Yellow-breasted Boatbill are calling and needing a bit of persistence to see them. Lemon-bellied Flycatcher have been in Geraghty Park and both Pale Yellow and Grey-headed Robin have been foraging out in the open orchard. One morning there were three grey-headed foraging together along with several others scattered around the orchard, they will probably stay with us until late October/early November before heading back up into the mountains at higher altitudes. This Pale-yellow Robin was very interested in this leaf and kept coming back to it.

Pale-yellow Robin

Metallic Starling are busy trying to build nests but have been distracted by having to chase off marauding Australasian Figbird who have been stealing their nest material. This female was heading up to one of the nests.

Australasian Figbird

These Metallic Starling were trying to build their nest with one working the nest and another on lookout duties.

Metallic Starling

It appears that the Olive-backed Sunbird reported last blog nesting in Geraghty Park have failed with their nest, probably due to an overnight period off the nest because the female was locked into the adjacent library room. They will try again, hopefully with a better outcome.

Further Afield:-

A Spotted Harrier was seen chasing off a Wedge-tailed Eagle along Euluma Creek Road, Julatten, before it landed on the ground to eat a small prey item. Whilst it was on the ground a Nankeen Kestrel buzzed it. The Wedge-tailed Eagle flew off to be harassed by a pair of Whistling Kite. Also along Euluma Creek Road a Large-tailed Nightjar was calling on dusk. Blue-faced Parrot-Finch are still being found near Abattoir Swamp but in small numbers of less than six. Black-throated Finch were reported from Hurricane Station Road north of Mt. Carbine and Del Richards from Fine Feather Tours reported a Latham's Snipe at Lake Mitchell which is the first we have heard of them this season.

Reptiles and Mammals:-

One spotlighting walk produced both Striped and Green Ringtail Possum which was something we had not done for at least a month, only finding one of the species at a time. Platypus have been showing in the evening, night and early morning with an adult and immature one morning at 7.00am. Our neighbour and bird guide Carol saw an Echidna along the banks of Bushy Creek near the nursing home which was the first for several months, she also had an Australian Scrub Python under her house. 

Short-beaked Echidna

A Long-nosed Bandicoot ran into the feeding station near the office one night which is unusual as they normally keep to the rainforest and orchard. Frog species sighting have become less frequent with the cooler weather as have the sightings of Eastern Water Dragon in Bushy Creek with only one seen over the two weeks.

Photography:-

One of the joys of photography in the “Wet Tropics” is trying to look after your equipment. Our camera gear is kept in a de-humidified cabinet which is in a de-humidified room but despite this the dreaded fungus gets into the camera gear. Using the lenses and having light passed through them helps impair fungal growth but does not completely stop it. In our days of running a camera shop we regularly had customers with lenses which were solid fungus from one end to another and wondered why they were getting soft focus pictures! Invariably they were kept in the dark with lens caps on which helps promote fungal growth in our humid conditions. There was a time when silica gel was recommended as a drying agent but in our climate they absorb the moisture in no time and you end up carrying a wet bag of gel which helps fungal growth!

The upshot of all this is that our gear has had to go away to get cleaned/repaired, our main camera, EOS 7D, has growth on the focusing screen which probably means a new screen, a job that could be done at home if the focusing screens were able to be purchased. This is not the case, Canon don't sell them as an accessory, so Canon camera technician only. One lens, 300mm F2.8 has a small blob of fungus in the front element and judging by past repairs on other lenses, the front lens elements are constructed as a group of lenses and cannot be replaced individually, so be prepared for an expensive bill! Currently I'm are using the backup EOS 40D and 100-400mm zoom. Using this combination I find quite a few limitations against the regular equipment. As good as the 40D is it is no match for the 7D, in particular the shutter button is not as sensitive resulting in having to press hard on the button resulting in camera shake. Previously I got used to rolling my finger across the button to trigger it so I'm having to learn this technique again. The 100-400mm zoom lens is a slow lens to use in the rainforest and obviously not as sharp as the 300mm (even when it has a 1.4x converter on it) and it is difficult to get the push pull zoom to operate smoothly. Most people we see coming through the Lodge use this lens at the 400mm setting for bird photography and if I had to choosing another lens I'd go for the 400mm F5.6 which is a good choice for bird photography at a reasonable price, Its light, sharp and has good fast auto focus.(of course a 500mm or 600mm 800mm would be better but we'll have to win the lottery first!).  The 100-400mm zoom has its place, it's definitely lighter than the 300mm! It is useful to be able to switch from bird photography to insect photography at times and zoom back to macro mode and of course it has image stabilisation which the fixed 400mm does not have. I'd be interested to see how the 200-400mm telephoto zoom with a built-in 1.4x focal length extender goes when it is released, probably be very expensive.

Normally the 40D is used for macro photography with the 100mm F2.8 macro lens and this works well as most shots are taken on a tripod with the shutter release. Looking forward to getting our gear back and a more usable images per shutter click. PS. We also have an EOS 20D with fungus on the sensor which costs as much to replace as buying a new camera body, so that goes with the old film cameras as boat anchors! Oh for an EOS 1.

29th July 2012 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

The first week had 3 rain days amounting to 11mm, which was just enough to keep the ground soft, the second week was dry with sunshine and a little cloud cover. The top temperature was a pleasant 22.1ºC and the minimum was 13.1ºC. The humidity was high up to 97% and down to 71%.

Bird sightings for the first week were 96 seen plus 3 heard. The second week had slightly more sightings due mainly to the great weather but also more birds calling, 105 seen plus 5 heard. Mammal and reptile species were slightly more than the last two weeks – 23 species were seen over the two weeks. The last two weeks bird lists are on the Eremaea Birds Website for Week1 and Week2 plus morning walk lists can also be found at this link on Eremaea Birds

Birding Highlights:

The return of Metallic Starling to their nest tree in Geraghty Park on the 27^th July, one day later than last year. Whether these are over-wintering birds from the coastal areas between Daintree and Cairns or migrants returning from Papua New Guinea we don't know but we would like to think they are returning migrants – welcome back. 

Metallic Starling

One female Cotton Pygmy-goose was on one of the McDougall Road lagoons late in the second week and Superb Fruit-Dove returned to the Lodge grounds foraging high in the rainforest canopy near the Crake Pool. A Swamp Harrier was along McDougalls Road one day and is an uncommon visitor for us. A Pale-vented Bush-hen was heard near the local Barramundi Farm which confirms their presence in the area but no sign of them showing at this time of year. Little Kingfisher was still making appearances on the Crake Pool and Bushy Creek over the two weeks and a White-cheeked Honeyeater was foraging at the back of the local nursing home. A common bird out towards Abattoir Swamp 6km away but uncommon around the Lodge. 

White-cheeked Honeyeater

Several Black-chinned Honeyeater (Golden-backed form) were taking advantage of the flowering Queensland Blue Gum in Geraghty Park whilst on a morning walk. The same walk also produced a male Satin Flycatcher, again in Geraghty Park, showing its iridescent black plumage.

Other sightings:

Several Orange-footed Scrubfowl (one of the megapodes) pairs have started to get aggressive towards each other with some quite ferocious fights going on around the grounds with them making more noise than usual - if that is possible! This one is showing off its punk hairdo.

Orange-footed Scrubfowl

Wompoo Fruit-Dove have been calling and taking advantage of some of the fruiting rainforest trees which are becoming available now around the Lodge grounds. A few Topknot Pigeon are coming back but not in the numbers we had earlier in the year when when we had hundreds flying over. Australian Swiftlet are taking advantage of recently cut cane paddocks to feast on the disturbed insects along with the Fairy Martin who have been in flocks of over 100. A few egret have been showing, mainly at the local Barramundi Farm, with Eastern Great, Intermediate, Cattle and Little mingling with the Australian White Ibis and a few Royal Spoonbill. Pacific Baza have been making an appearance once or twice each week and an Australian Hobby swooped down onto a pile of mulch in the camping area to grab a small unfortunate mammal, which looked like a Fawn-footed Melomys. A juvenile Scaly-breasted Lorikeet has taken up residence in one of our grevillea's and has been foraging in it for the last 5-6 days, it appears to be on its own with no sign of the parents. As you can see from this photo the bird has hardly any tail.

Scaly-breasted Lorikeet - juvenile

Double-eyed Fig-Parrot were feeding in a fruiting fig tree behind the local nursing home with at least 10 seen whilst on a morning walk. Despite fruit still in the tree they have not been back for nearly a week. The same tree was also attracting mobs of Australian Figbird (surprise!) and a few Barred Cuckoo-shrike. A Fan-tailed Cuckoo which was calling in Geraghty Park was the first record for here this year but they have been heard in the district for about a month. The pair of Barking Owl reported in previous blogs are still with us and made an early evening appearance in the camping area, much to the delight of several of our guests, calling and showing well for a few minutes before heading off for their night-time foray for food. The two pairs of Eastern Barn Owl nearby appear to have chicks in their nests as we saw one brief appearance of a small bird with fluffy down and another more mature bird in the second nest. Unfortunately we found one injured E. Barn Owl under one of the nests and another bird which looked like a non-flying juvenile on the ground during the day. This bird was quite lively spreading its wings in defence and bill snapping upon approach but there was a couple of Sulphur-crested Cockatoo above it in a tree squawking drawing attention to it. So the owl was coerced into moving a short distance into the rainforest edge for shelter where hopefully the parents would find it.

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

Azure Kingfisher have been along Bushy Creek and the Noisy Pitta mentioned in the last blog is still coming to the feeder for a bit of banana occasionally. Spotted Catbird are also coming to the feeder for banana and calling a lot whilst lurking around in the rainforest. Thirteen species of honeyeater were seen over the two weeks which is a good number; they have plenty of flowering plants to choose from at the moment. A pair of Yellow Honeyeater have started using one of our bird baths and this one was enjoying a bit of a preen and a shakedown in the sun.

Yellow Honeyeater

Olive-backed Oriole have been around and showing well which is unusual for them as they are more often heard than seen. An adult Black Butcherbird has been around in the rainforest and on one occasion flushed from under the raised boards of the tour group eating area in front of the units, probably looking for a Bush Rat. We still have both Grey and Rufous Fantail foraging around the grounds and quite often they are following each other around. Spectacled Monarch have started chasing and calling a lot, maybe prelude to breeding.

Spectacled Monarch

Pied Monarch are showing well with four foraging on the same tree on the edge of the orchard. Lemon-bellied Flycatcher have been coming down low, perching on fences and pouncing onto the ground for insects. This behaviour makes a change from having strain ones neck looking skywards for birds perched on tree branches which is more normal, we think you can all relate to “birdwatchers neck”! The Olive-backed Sunbird who were mentioned in the last blog started to use their nest in Geraghty Park but the female found herself locked in the library room (next to her nest) one night and was not rescued until Lindsay went over with a key the next morning to release her. She was soon back on the nest and later in the week she was sitting, hopefully for a good outcome but it would be surprising if that clutch of eggs survived.

Olive-backed Sunbird

  
Further Afield:-

Our roving bird guide Carol Iles reported Varied Sittella opposite Lake Mitchell (between Mareeba and Mt. Molloy), Black-breasted Buzzard at Biboora near Mareeba and at Maryfarms to our north on the way to Mt. Carbine Sacred and Red-backed Kingfisher, a flock of White-winged Triller (adult females), Black-faced Woodswallow and Diamond Dove still along West and East Maryfarms Roads. Cotton Pygmy-goose were on Lake Mitchell, two male and four female/juvenile male Golden Bowerbird were on Mt. Lewis one morning along with another nine of the twelve “wet tropic” endemic birds Fernwren, Atherton Scrubwren, Mountain Thornbill, Macleay's Honeyeater, Grey-headed Robin, Chowchilla, Bower's Shrike-thrush, Victoria's Riflebird and Tooth-billed Bowerbird. Not bad getting ten out of the twelve endemics in one morning. Up to six Blue-faced Parrot-finch have been seen near Abattoir Swamp but they have been difficult to find. Squatter Pigeon have been seen in Mt Molloy near the school (visit after 4.00pm).

Reptiles and Mammals:-

The cooler drier weather has restricted sightings of some of the frogs and reptiles resulting in a lower than previous weeks reptile and mammal count of 23 species. Highlight here was the sighting of three Platypus in Bushy Creek, two adults and one juvenile which is great confirmation that they have been breeding. Both Striped and Green Ringtail Possum

were seen but only once or twice during the last two weeks. Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko have again been reliable on night walks, whilst two Boyd's Forest Dragon have been around the reception area until the last couple of days when the temperatures have dropped.

Other Happenings:-

We attended the Birdlife North Queensland meeting at the Wildlife Habitat in Port Douglas on 28^th July with about 50 members and guests. The entertainment for the evening started off with an entertaining bird quiz prepared and hosted by Murray Hunt (Daintree Boatman). Our team finished up in a draw for first place which required a tie breaking question to decided the outcome, luckily for us we answered this question to take the spoils! All good fun. This was followed by Andrew Forsyth from Red Mill House in the Daintree Village presenting an overview of birdwatching in the far north Wet Tropic area. Andrew illustrated the reasons for birders to come to our region which has over 350 species of birds occurring in a very diverse range of habitats along with specialist birding accommodation and tour guides to give visitors a complete birding experience. This was followed by one of the wildlife keepers at the Wildlife Habitat giving a talk about the breeding success of their pair of Black-necked Stork, which was very informative. The birds are currently sitting on three eggs which are due to hatch around the beginning of August. The evening was a great success and is the start of of monthly meetings to be held by the group. More information can be found on the Birdlife North Queensland website. 

BirdLife Meeting at Wildlife Habitat

 

9th October 2011 Report

Minimum temperatures at the beginning of the week were down to 15.3ºc but for the rest of the week they were around 17-18ºc mark. The maximum temperature was 31.4ºc at the beginning of the week with one overcast and cloudy day only getting up to 24.8ºc, it even tried raining this day but the sprinkle was dry before it hit the ground. The lowest humidity was 52% and highest 90%.

Another good week for numbers of bird species with 107 seen, and 11 heard. Reptiles and mammals were down on last week but still good with 22 seen and one heard.

The weeks bird list is on the Eremaea Birds website and morning walk lists can also be found at this link on Eremaea Birds.

Highlights around the Lodge grounds were the first Dollarbird for the season at the end of the week, several Wompoo Fruit-Dove showing well foraging on Blue Quondong fruits plus a male and female Lovely Fairy-Wren along Bushy Creek at the Platypus viewing area.

Other sightings:

The Lagoons along McDougall Road were once again producing good numbers of waterbird species including Grey Teal which is a species we have not seen in the Lodge area since the beginning of December 2009. The Cotton Pygmy-goose were still present with a maximum of five, also present were Green Pygmy-goose This image was taken late in the afternoon with the sun reflecting off the ripples caused by the wind.

Green Pygmy-goose - female

Pigeons and doves were again good this week with Brown Cuckoo-Dove, Emerald, Peaceful and Bar-shouldered Dove, Wompoo Fruit-Dove plus Pied Imperial and Topknot Pigeon. Superb Fruit-Dove was only heard. Our female Papuan Frogmouth was visible all week roosting and also heard calling at night but still not able to attract a mate. Australian Owlet-nightjar was seen once at its daytime roost tree and heard on several nights

Australian Swiftlet were around for a couple of days in big numbers with hundreds hawking low over the Lodge and adjacent areas.

The two Pacific Baza reported last week were again near last years nest site calling and seen carrying some small twigs for their nest. This one was spooked by a dive bombing Forest Kingfisher.

Pacific Baza

A single Nankeen Kestrel was again seen once perched on a power pole alongside the Rex Highway.

“Katie” the Buff-banded Rail continues meeting the guests and cleaning up the spiders in the rooms, tents and caravans and seems settled at the moment. No doubt the wander lust will kick in and she will be off again. We did see an adult Buff-banded Rail along Bushy Creek foraging at the edge which might tempt “Katie” to head down there. Both Australian Spotted Crake and White-browed Crake were heard in the McDougall Road lagoons but not seen. Black-fronted Dotterel were seen at the Barramundi Farm and also at one of the McDougall Road Lagoons.

Eastern Koel have been calling but not showing but at least three Channel-billed Cuckoo have been seen flying around together. (Lesser) Sooty Owl was not seen this week, only heard and only two Eastern Barn Owl were seen although several others were heard. Blue-winged Kookaburra were heard only and don't appear to be crossing the Rex Highway into Geraghty Park at the moment so they may possibly be nesting. A pair of Forest Kingfisher have been taking an interest in a termite mound high up in the rainforest canopy on a bare tree. They have been calling and making lots of clicking sounds around the mound. One day whilst the Forest Kingfishers were calling a Large-billed Scrubwren fired up and began mimicking the kingfishers call, it was a near perfect rendition. 

Forest Kingfisher - male & female

  
Brown Gerygone was heard on the edge of the rainforest on the border with our neighbours which was the first time for several weeks. Not so many honeyeaters this week with only eleven species. At least five Barred Cuckoo-shrike have been around the area, more often heard than seen. Cicadabird was also heard but not seen unlike the normally secretive Olive-backed Oriole which were seen on several occasions foraging in a fruiting fig tree along with a flock of Australasian Figbird. Several Spangled Drongo appeared on the scene mid-week and at least one Rufous Fantail is still around. Black-faced Monarch have been vocal again this week and seen bathing in Bushy Creek. This male Mistletoebird was active collecting nectar from a flowering Bottlebrush (Calistemon). 
 

Mistletoebird - male

An Australian Pipit was foraging at the nearby Barramundi Farm which is a location they are not seen at very often.

Further afield a small flock of White-headed Pigeon were foraging just off the highway from Julatten to Mt.Molloy near Abattoir Swamp in a patch of rainforest, White-winged Triller have been seen at Mowbray National Park, an unusual location and also at Lake Mitchell a more usual location. Mt. Lewis has been regularly turning up ten out of twelve of the Wet Tropics endemic species with Tooth-billed and Golden Bowerbird (M & F), Fernwren, Atherton Scrubwren, Mountain Thornbill, Bridled Honeyeater, Chowchilla, Bower's Shrike-thrush, Victoria's Riflebird and Grey-headed Robin. 

Chowchilla - male

 
Hundreds of Spangled Drongo were seen migrating southwards along the coast at Newell Beach, just north of Mossman and two Grey Fantail were in Churchill Creek Road off the Mt. Lewis Road. These are the first seen for several weeks and one of few sightings this year. Also along Churchill Creek Road, on a private property, a large flock of Double-eyed Fig-Parrot were seen to come into roost on dusk, probably about 80 birds. We used to get about 120 roosting opposite our house in Cairns about 10 years ago.

 

Mammals were good with a positive identification of a bat species we regularly see along Bushy Creek, Large-footed Myotis. A Giant White-tailed Rat was spotted in a coconut palm biting its way into a coconut husk. Striped Possum was heard several times but not located as it fed high up in the canopy on a Pink Mahogany tree. Platypus was regularly seen in Bushy Creek throughout the week and a Water Rat was also seen here once. Frog numbers were well down with only four species seen, Jungguy Frog, White-lipped Tree Frog, Roth's Tree Frog and Dessert Tree Frog. This White-lipped Tree Frog is doing what frogs do best and that is to sleep!

White-lipped Tree Frog

Talking of frogs we now have the latest revised edition of the “ Field Guide to the Frogs of Australia” available in our shop for $49.95 plus postage. This revised edition contains four more new species, which have been described, one name change and one more (Neobratrachus centralis) has been suppressed. Two recently described frog species, which are not in the book, have been found near Lockhart River on Cape York, you can read about them on the Cairns Post website .

Boyd's Forest Dragon were around at the beginning of the week but hiding towards the end and several Eastern Water Dragon have been regulars along Bushy Creek. An Amethystine Python was checking out the amenities block in the camping area one evening late in the week.

7th November 2010 Report

The big news this week was that we were presented with a Wet Tropics Management Authority Cassowary Award for Nature Based Tourism! Hence the late appearance of the blog as we had a day off to receive the award which was presented at Wildlife Habitat at Port Douglas. The awards recognise individuals and groups who have made outstanding contributions to the conservation and presentation of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.

The only Cassowary you are likely to see at the Lodge!

The weather was not quite as good as last week as we had 4mm of rain, but most of the week was dry and sunny with similar temperatures to last week 19.2ºC – 29.2ºC. Bird sightings were good with 78 seen and 4 heard, mammals and reptiles were 18 seen.

A full species list for the week can be found Here

Highlight for the week was a Noisy Pitta feeding a juvenile bird which is very early in the season to have young. Last season they were still feeding young in the nest in January and fledglings in February, so fledglings in November is very early. The pittas are searching for food in the orchard and showing well with everyone getting good views. Spectacled Monarch were feeding fledglings in February and now there have been some seen being fed last week which is very early, so maybe they will nest a second time. Pacific Baza have started feeding their young in the nest and also bringing in new nest material to spruce up their untidy nest. 

 Pacific Baza with nest material

The baza's are having to run the gauntlet of up to six White-breasted Woodswallow which are harassing them and keeping them away from the nest for long periods.

A flock of Magpie Goose were heard flying over one night honking away. Brown Cuckoo-Dove are feeding in Tobacco Bush with at least five birds present one morning. Papuan Frogmouth have only been at their usual roost twice this week with both the male and female birds sitting within 2m of each other. They are still calling most nights and no sign of any nesting activity has been seen. Cattle Egret numbers have increased with at least 300 gathering in a paddock opposite KFP one evening, most in breeding plumage. White-bellied Sea-Eagle have been active, soaring overhead and calling a lot. Red-necked Crake was briefly seen hurrying through the rainforest near the track to Bushy Creek from the orchard late one afternoon and has also been heard calling every night. 


Scaly-breasted Lorikeet numbers have been building up as more trees are starting to flower and Double-eyed Fig-Parrot were seen at least once. An Eastern Koel, female, was showing well one morning perched high up in a tree behind the accommodation units, but no sign of the males despite hearing them calling. Channel-billed Cuckoo have started to call more frequently after keeping quiet for a few weeks, maybe they have laid their eggs. Azure Kingfisher has been zipping up and down Bushy Creek most days and perching well for good looks. Dollarbird has been calling and displaying in Geraghty Park with at least six individuals soaring around. Also in the park were three adult male Rufous Whistler displaying to one female. The males were chasing each other around, perching then head bobbing and arching with their tails cocked up. Needless to say the female was taking no obvious notice. 

Rufous Whistler - female

Spotted Catbird was seen feeding a very recently fledged bird who was having trouble maintaining balance on a branch. Lewin's Honeyeaters are still hanging around and a few Bridled Honeyeaters have been calling and showing on the grevillea flowers. White-throated Honeyeater are more visible, calling and feeding on flowering eucalypts as well as looking for lerps (small sugary insects).

 White-throated Honeyeater

A male Cicadabird has been calling and spending a lot of time chasing off Australasian Figbird, not sure if they are nesting yet. 

 Australasian Figbird - male

A single Rufous Fantail was foraging high in the rainforest canopy and was the first sighting for several weeks. An Olive-backed Oriole showed itself after many weeks of calling and hiding from us, it was mimicking several other bird species calls as it went about feeding on some small fruits. Golden-headed Cisticola have been calling and showing in the neighboring cane fields and Mistletoebird has been tending his mistletoe which is now coming into full flower and attracting the honeyeaters as well.

Fawn-footed Melomys are coming to the feeder more often lately, better they eat our seed than our car radiator hoses! 

 Fawn-footed Melomys

A Green Ringtail Possum was seen roosting in a tree over the bunkhouse one afternoon but not located since. Northern Brown Bandicoot females are carrying very large babies in their pouches 

 Northern Brown Bandicoot

Two juvenile Platypus have been swimming past the viewing area as well as two adults most mornings and afternoons. They are bad time keepers and are not turning up at any set time in the evening and early morning, you just have to be patient to see them. Spectacled Flying-Fox numbers have increased in the orchard at night feeding on a few fruits including the Blue Quondong. Several Boyd's Forest Dragon are still showing well around the grounds and an Amethystine Python was on the ground beside the track to Bushy Creek from the orchard one evening.

Further afield a Great-billed Heron was reported from Bushy Creek at the beginning of the Mt. Lewis Road; we have records of them along Bushy Creek in August and October. A male Golden Bowerbird was seen flying across the track beyond the tin miners dam on Mt. Lewis. Squatter Pigeon was along the Emerald Creek Falls Road east of Mareeba, also at Emerald Creek was a Rufous Owl and the White-browed Robin that was reported from here a few weeks ago is still feeding a juvenile. A pair of Spotted Harrier were along the Malanda to Atherton Road and can be expected in this area at this time of year.